Illinois State-Senator Heather Steans, representing the North Side of Chicago has resigned after a 12 year career of being one of the most wasteful and disastrous Democrats in the Windy City’s history. And that’s saying something. Steans was “instrumental” in the passage of legalized recreational marijuana and same-sex marriage according to CBS2 Chicago.
“It’s been the privilege of a lifetime to represent the most diverse Senate district in the State of Illinois,” Steans said. “I’ve benefited tremendously from the many perspectives of the people a I’ve represented. We’ve made great progress together, and now it’s time to pass the baton.”
This resignation, promptly after her re-election seems designed to enable an insider-appointee to her seat. CBS reports “A state senator for Chicago’s North Side since 2009, Steans sponsored the 2013 law allowing same sex couples to marry in Illinois, a 2017 measure expanding abortion coverage for women on Medicaid or state insurance plans, as well as the 2019 law legalizing recreational use of marijuana in the state.”
Illinois State Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) who’s district overlaps with Steans is seeking appointment to replace her.
Recreational Marijuana? Sure, but the Illinois Black Market is Still Cheaper
Alton Daily News wrote in February that in spite of recreational marijuana becoming legal thanks to Steans on January 1st, ” some remain concerned that high prices are keeping people from moving to the legal market.” According to Alton Daily, “Alderman Joe McMenamin said the illicit market in California, where cannabis has been legal for years, has surpassed the legal market. The Los Angeles Times reported in September that California’s black market for cannabis was at least three times the size of the state’s regulated industry.
McMenamin said he suspected the same thing is happening in Illinois.
“It’s probably because the younger buyers are buying on the black market still because they can’t afford the prices at the dispensary,” he said.
With an eighth of an ounce at $80 legal with tax and $60 from your local dealer in Chi-town, the black market is going to do nothing but boom. Why would this be wasteful? Seems as though it would be great for Illinois to get so much money right? Too bad that Steans told the Chicago Tribune that a year in and Illinois communities haven’t seen a DIME of the over $62 million collected in “weed taxes” so far, and Steans didn’t have answers,
“I’m certainly hoping those dollars get out as soon as possible,” Steans told the newspaper. “We did a lot to make this the most equitable cannabis system in the country. … We haven’t seen the results yet we wanted in any of those areas, so we obviously need to stay on it” The Illinois Department of Revenue said that $175 million has now been collected in total through December and the states’ system for handling licenses and providing help to the dispensaries is BROKEN according to the Tribune.
States like New Jersey, Arizona, Montana and South Dakota who just recently approved recreational use… take note. Being wasteful of the taxpayers dollars is far less likely to fly in more conservative states, though New Jersey isn’t even likely to notice. With their law enforcement gutted, and illegal marijuana sales set to spike and none of that funding reaching the people, Chicagoland is on a collision course with the unrest dominating our nation.
So, what? Another Communist will obviously take her place. If they truly embraced diversity, then the State Senate would add more conservatives like yours truly on board (and I’m the only conservative living in Shit-cago).